CB10 App - News/Feedback/Feature Request

Hello fellow CrackBerry members!

You might noticed a recent update for the CB10 app. This was the first community made update! And, while it wasn't really a huge improvement over the previous version, I may assure you, that the new updates will come!

There is already several threads for feature requests and feedback, but we (devs) thought it would be nice to create an official all-in-one thread.

Thanks to khehl and his effort in this thread, there is already a nice list of features we all like to see:

Originally Posted by khehl

I have a few request for the app to our fellow devs that are helping to make the app better.

1. On the bottom bar where it said "New Threads" and "Participated". Can you move the Sub Forums from overflow to the bottom? It would be cool if there was an option to also merge all the subbed forums so I can look at it like a feed.

2. Automatic Cache Clear on Startup - it's nice that we finally got it but it would be better if we got it on startup.

3. The whole user panel so I can see my: Likes, Thanks, PMs

4. Headless notifications when someone replies to a topics/thread you made, Likes, Thanks, and PMs; with the options to get them instant or daily.

11. Subbed threads should have the same unread sorting as participated threads that's on the bottom bar

Feel free to give your feedback, propose features and criticize. And as a devs, we will try to give you as much support as possible.
After all, this is a community app, so we all have to participate to make it better.

1. Fixing the app so I can install it again after I had to go through heck to uninstall it. I cannot install it currently as if I do, it will not open. When I uninstall it to try again, I have to refresh App World just so it doesn't say that it couldn't uninstall it.

2. Unbreaking the settings so it doesn't take 10 seconds to load which caused me to attempt reinstall in the first place.

3. And not worrying about any other feature requests until these CRITICAL bugs are fixed in a SOON update.

I like the list compiled in the OP. I think those changes would really make the app fantastic. In particular being able to see your user info such as likes and thanks, the number of posts and titles of individuals like moderator, pinch to zoom, poll option, multiple quote options and also the overall optimization to speed it up.

Another upvote for the list in the OP. Sounds exactly like the kind of thing we would want in a (10.3) native app.

For me the biggest 'bug' has always been the Participated list. It is sorted by the last reply I make, instead of the last reply overall.
This means some active topics fall to the bottom if I happen not to reply for a while.

Another upvote for the list in the OP. Sounds exactly like the kind of thing we would want in a (10.3) native app.

For me the biggest 'bug' has always been the Participated list. It is sorted by the last reply I make, instead of the last reply overall.
This means some active topics fall to the bottom if I happen not to reply for a while.

BlackBerry 10 signed.

This is what I was trying to say as well. Other forum apps can also filter out read in the participated/subscribed posts. This functionality would be well received in CB10.

Sent from an ATM
No trees were harmed during the making of this message

When voting in a blog fix the tiny font / look. Can barely see and select.

Ability to see picture when selected

Ability to block, like the website, so one never has to see their comments. There are quite a few folks who only have negative things to say, not balanced, just negative and I would like to not see their posts.

Other than the first one others can come later once the bugs and more important features are in place.

Often goes to next page when I don't want when it hits bottom of current page unexpectedly

Navigating to prior page typically requires two hands to hold down top while selecting
desired page with other hand

10) Visible post numbers

11) Ability to copy URL of specific post, rather than just the whole thread (page number
suffix along with anchor tags. And CB10 app needs to understand these and be
be able to go directly to that post when passed that URL.)

(Or at LEAST the current page - PITA to send someone to the root page when the
content you want them to read is on page 35)

12) Unify post signatures with website. I want one signature that is consistent no matter
where I post from. I have no interest in advertising I am using the app, and I don't
care if Mobile Nations thinks that's a good idea.

13) Allow users to see the unified/web signature on posts. I put info there I'd like people
to see, and I would like it to be visible no matter how they view the post. (An option
to hide signatures, or better - have them by default "collapsed" and expandable via
click, would be useful, and would mitigate the need for a separate "CB10 signature".)

Currently, I'm constantly having to re-post links for people because my signature
is invisible to them in the CB10 app.

14) Better way of adding attributes to text

Currently I'm doing it manually with BBcode tags and it's very time-consuming to do
this with the virtual keyboard.

Making it easier to edit quoted text will (hopefully!) cut down on the posts that quote 10
paragraphs of text to add 3 words underneath it. (Maybe CB mods need a large hammer,
too. )

GENERAL CRACKBERRY FORUMS ISSUES / TANGENTIAL

A) General Crackberry issue: an autoreply to posts you report so you can track responses

Include link to post reported, date/time and text of report comments.

B) General Crackberry issue: notification when your posts have been moderated

This can be automated, would require no extra work on part of moderators

Include full ORIGINAL text of moderated post, date/time, name/contact info of moderator

I think almost everything is possible, but headless/hub features is not a 5 min (not even a 5h) task, so I doubt we will see it in the next update.

FWIW: I have zero interest in adding headless operation to the app, for the following reasons:

I see no significant benefit.

I do not need more things running in the background taking up resources and battery power.

Headless support on BB10 is buggy and there are often conflicts between headless apps. I am extremely selective in what I allow to run headless, and something like BB10 where I actually have to interact with it to benefit from it, is very very low on my list of priorities. Notifications app or call blocker? Great. Not an app like this.

Writing a headless app is complex, entails various compromises of functionality (ie extremely limited memory limits), and I would rather see the development time go to more significantly beneficial functionality.

Thanks to khehl and his effort in this thread, there is already a nice list of features we all like to see

Originally Posted by khehl

2. Automatic Cache Clear on Startup - it's nice that we finally got it but it would be better if we got it on startup.

Not sure what the benefit of this would be. Presumably the cache is there for a reason - ie to speed up launching/navigation/general usage - so why would you want to constantly clear it? It's only taking up ~30MB of space on my device, which is trivial IMHO. Clearing the cache means increasing your data usage too, every time you open the app.

Originally Posted by khehl

3. The whole user panel so I can see my: Likes, Thanks, PMs

I think that's fine, but the "whole" user panel? I think that's overkill and would clutter the bejeezus out of the app.

Originally Posted by khehl

4. Headless notications when someone replies to a topics/thread you made, Likes, Thanks, and PMs; with the options to get them instant or daily.

As I posted previously, I think headless operation is problematic. I would rather see people use the existing VBulletin feature of email notifications, which works fine, and perhaps enhance that if people really need to be notified immediately every time someone liked their post.

I agree auto clearing of cache is not beneficial. I have no prob with keeping some data and image cache if it speeds up the app and helps with navigation. It's the 400+ that was the problem. The 50 or less is people just being a... picky.

I would suggest an automated cache scavenger that tries to keep the cache under control. Let the user pick the threshold, and default it to something like 50 MB or so? This might be on a QTimer and run once an hour... just a thought.

I would suggest an automated cache scavenger that tries to keep the cache under control. Let the user pick the threshold, and default it to something like 50 MB or so? This might be on a QTimer and run once an hour... just a thought.

Mine was 700+MB the other day and it took several minutes to cleat.

Mine may have been uncharacteristically small because I recently did an OS re-install along with all the apps.

Was not able to see the size of the cache beforehand because that feature didn't exist on the version of CB10 I was running then, and because BlackBerry hides app data from our sensitive immature eyes.

About cache:
There is no point to automatically clear ALL the cache every time the app is open.

1) Cache cleaner have to be smart and leave the cache for, let's say, past 24h.
2) Cache related processes have to run in a separate thread to prevent blocking UI. This was the biggest issue for users with huge cache size.
3) Cache cleaner have to be customizable.

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